Winter entered the battlefield and took notice of how it was set up. The groups of Krag were spread out enough that she could possibly avoid the larger groups and find ones that strayed from the pack. With her skill level, she thought it best to try and fight only one at a time. Or possibly she could join a group of Lost Boys. She looked for Slightly, but came up short. This is what you wanted, she thought in an attempt to get her ready to swoop into battle, but the flash of the dead Krag kept sweeping into her mind. “Slightly!” she radioed into her com link. Unfortunately, Slightly was too busy slaying a Krag to respond.

A band of Krags noticed Winter in the open space all by herself and swarmed her. In the vast openness of space, Winter was luckily able to spot them. She took a deep breath and turned on her sword, aiming it toward them as they got closer. Winter thought she was ready. They got closer. Winter knew she could do this. They were almost within a sword’s reach of her when she chickened out.

Igniting her jetpack, Winter got away as fast as she could, hoping her accelerator was somehow faster than theirs. “Peter! There’s too many of them!” Winter belted out to Peter.

Meanwhile on the captain’s deck, Peter was swamped dodging multiple ships and mines. He was so agitated and stressed that sweat was now settling in at the top of his forehead. He searched over all his screens for a shot of Winter. Luckily, she was close by. He zoomed in on her and could see the trouble she was in. “Dammit,” he said under his breath. He had to keep Winter safe, but he couldn’t just leave the Jolly Roger to be destroyed. Or worse, be taken over and piloted by the Krag. “Hang in there, Winter! You got this!” he said knowing damn well that Winter did not have this. “Slight! How you hanging out there? As fun as you remember?”

Slightly was about to slice open a Krag’s throat when another one came up behind him and grabbed his sword hand. Slightly immediately flipped over him using his jet pack, missing the Krag blade headed towards his back. He kicked the Krag into one another, far enough for him to catch a breath. He radioed Pan, “Not great, Pan. I think I’m out of shape.”

“Is that a new diet you’re on or are all the Lost Boys eating junk?”

“Please, Pan, no jokes right now. The men,” Slightly took a quick look around surveying the scene, “They’re alright. I don’t think we have any casualties yet. But we’re getting tired. I wasn’t expecting so many of them.” He took a few more breaths. “Winter! Where you at? I’ll come help!” Slightly said, flying through the galaxy trying to spot her.

“Slightly, I don’t think you’ll need to,” Peter chimed in. Slightly came to a brisk halt, thinking the worst had happened to her.

“What? Why? What happened to Winter?”

“Yeah, what happened to me?” Winter struck back over the coms, still flying away from the incoming Krag. In the Jolly Roger, Peter was looking ahead of the ship. A sigh of relief and a smile came over him.

“I think she’ll be alright. We’ll all be alright.” Both Winter and Slightly were confused and unsure of what Peter meant by that. He sensed this and radioed back, “Turn around.”

They could not believe what they were seeing. Slightly grew a face of comfort, while Winter grew a bewildered one. Just ahead of them was an entire armada of crimson colored tiny, compact ships. Next to ships like the Jolly Roger or the Dodger, they almost seemed miniature. They flew toward the Krag ships and produced a barrage of firing blasts, successfully defending the Lost Boys and the Jolly Roger.

“The Red Men!” Slightly yelled in exhilaration. “Oh yes, Winter you’ll be completely fine now!” Slightly flew off, now tracking Krags with a new sense of confidence.

Winter turned around and found a Krag tailing her at that exact moment. She flew away, not as convinced as Slightly or Peter that everything would be alright. “Umm how sure are you about this?” The Krag was getting too close to her. She had to fight it. With a flip around, Winter was now facing the Krag. The Krag, with its old metal jagged sword, produced a harsh hit at Winter. She defended properly, but the sheer strength of the hit sent her soaring and disoriented her. The Krag took this opportunity and made a beeline right for her, its sword going for the stab. Winter would have gotten ready to block, but the Krag’s hit was so immense it caused her to lose her sword. “Peter!” she yelled as she brought her arms up to protect her face as the Krag hurdled towards her ready to strike. Just as the Krag was about to rip Winter to shreds, it miraculously stopped dead in its tracks and looked as if its breath was being taken away. Winter cautiously let her guard down, unsure of what was happening.

In the stunned silence, the only thing she could hear was what sounded like a blade slicing through raw flesh continuously. With the little strength it had left, the Krag turned around, revealing several deep slashes across its back. Winter heard a blade go through the Krag’s body, killing it. Its body was pushed to the side, where Winter found a tiny red alien!

It had two long antennae on its head standing straight up. She followed the antenna down to its face, which had two tennis ball sized eyeballs that were a shade of electric blue. Its skin was completely red, matching the color of their ships. It couldn’t have been taller than the boots she was wearing. In both three fingered hands, it wielded a small laser knife, that could pass for the blade part of a toenail clipper. The little alien swiftly threw the blades back and forth between the two hands so fast that Winter could barely see the movement. To the untrained eye, it would have seemed the knives never left their tiny hands.

“Can you please stop staring,” he said in a deep heavy voice. Winter snapped out of it.

“Oh sorry,” Winter replied, afraid she had just offended him, but she also had so many questions to ask him.

So…are you going to fight or what?” he shot back and then took off using a pair of tiny rocket boots that would have fit swell on any toddler. Slightly flew up beside Winter concerned.

“Winter! You alright?” Winter couldn’t believe what she just saw. She knew things were different in Neverland than what any book or movie portrayed, but nothing could have prepared her for what she just saw.

“Yeah…yeah, I just umm, those are the red men?” was all she could ask. Slightly was unsure of what she was asking.

“Ummm, yes, those are the red men.”

“Huh, they were a bit…different than what I thought they would be.”

“What do YOU think they would look like?” Slightly coyly toyed with her. He squinted at her playfully.

“Huh nothing. Yep, red alien, that makes total sense.”

“Tsk tsk, Winter. Didn’t know you were so close-minded,” Slightly said with a grin.

“No! No! It’s just that-” Winter rambled.

“Hey! I get it, some people just don’t care enough for being politically correct. We all can’t be saints,” Slightly chuckled as he blasted off.

“No! It’s not that!” Winter yelped, but Slightly was too far away now. “Dammit.”

Winter decided to get back into the action. She was still a little uneasy, however. The Krag’s physical presence still brought a great amount of fear into her, but she knew she couldn’t let fear drive her. She found a pack of the Red Men near a bunch of Krags and felt safest with them nearby. She flew over, just when the Red Men were done with the cluster of Krag, leaving their lifeless corpses floating in space. They were so fast that Winter couldn’t keep up. She fixated on the leftover bodies. Was this how much carnage every battle in Neverland fabricated? Blood left their mouths and continued to float. Breaking away from the bodies, Winter continued to follow the pack of Red Men.

She noticed two of them were having a little bit of trouble with one Krag. This one was not like the others. It wasn’t as physically built, slender than the rest of its kind. Its attacks were not as strong, but it was far faster than anything she had seen a Krag display before. One red alien zoomed to its left, trying to start slicing its ribs, when the Krag caught the little red guy in its hands. He yelped at being grabbed and his arms were too tiny and small to pry the Krag’s fingers off of him.

The other red man flew towards the Krag’s hand, hoping to help out his comrade, when the Krag lifted its sword. From the outside, this was clearly its plan. The Krag raised the blade and sliced through the red man right across his belly. The red man was too distracted trying to free his comrade that he didn’t see it coming. “No!” Winter yelled out. She sped forward, her blade drawn and stabbed right into the Krag. Its dead hands lost its grip and released the trapped red man. “You okay?” she asked bewildered.

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“No!” the red man yelled darting past her to attend to his little friend. Winter turned and watched them. The red man cradled the injured one and held him close. He coughed up blood, barely able to breath. The injured red man looked up to the last being he would see and said, “Do it,” in a calm, but weak voice. The other red man nodded its head. Winter could tell it was a very hard decision to make, whatever it was. He continued, “No dying wish for me-”.

He was cut off with the other red man yelling. The injured red man closed his eyes in solidarity knowing what would come. A knife plunged into his neck and sliced it wide open. He was dead within seconds. The red man who provided a mercy killing, wiped off his knife and flew right back into battle, leaving the poor dead alien alone, floating through space.

Winter couldn’t believe her eyes. Not that they mercy killed him, but that there was next to zero emotion afterwards. The red man cleaned his knife as if he just made a sandwich and carried on about his day. This was life in Neverland. Everything Peter said about it had been true. No wonder they didn’t give two craps about art. Every day they likely experienced death and carnage.

“How you holding up, Winter?” Peter chimed in. She quickly refocused and had a decision to make. Neverland or Earth?

“Great! Just great!” she replied with a dead face. She tried convincing herself that this was still better than Earth. But that case was harder and harder to make with every little snippet she learned about Neverland.

“Perfect! Told you you’d be fine!” Peter replied as he piloted, still dealing with the various Krag ships and mines they were leaving behind.

“You’re were right Pete. Always right.” Winter looked back toward the battle and flew in to help.

Peter believed the battle was almost done. There were only a few Krag ships left. Luckily none of them caused an immense amount of damage to either the Jolly Roger or the fleet the Lost Boys brought. There were still mines that were left out. Peter made sure not to touch any of them. Not just because they would explode, but because they were tracer mines. If they were hit, they instantly began following whatever hit them and would not stop until they had impact with something. Easy to get rid of in an asteroid field, but next to impossible in the openness of space.

Peter was about to radio Slightly to check in, when he saw a peculiar object off in the distance, right near the bright blue planet of Grottowia, the planet Peter initially came out for. “Tink, zoom into that,” he said. Tink obeyed and made the screen zoom in. Tink had been with Peter so long that she didn’t need to ask what he was talking about. It was as if they were one synergetic being.

It was just as Peter thought. Tink’s zoom verified that it was the Sea Devil. Hook was close by. Questions flooded Peter’s mind. Was this Hook’s plan all along? Was he able to steal something from the Grottowians? Did the Krags have anything to do with Grottowia?

His questioning was cut short when he saw the thrusters on the Sea Devil fire up. Hook was preparing a getaway. Peter needed to find out where he was headed next. “Tink! Prepare the turret to fire out a tracker as soon as possible!”

Peter programmed the ship to autopilot away from the battle scene. It would hurt the chances of firing a tracker onto Hook’s ship, but it was a sacrifice that he had to take in order to keep the Jolly Roger away from the mines and the Krag. He jumped up from his seat and activated his rocket boots. He flew through the ship and to the firing brig, which was still pitch black to accommodate the increase in shield energy. Peter had forgotten all about how much he sacrificed his own ship to survive this battle. “Crap! Tink! Reactivate power! I need the firing brig up and running STAT!”

He jumped into the seat and tapped his neck. Nothing happened. He tapped again, and still nothing happened. His taps gradually became harder and harder. “Come on!” he belted as he slapped himself against his neck. Miraculously, the turret came into his point of view. “Ready Tink?”

“Affirmative!” Tink yelled over his radio intercom. Peter zoomed in as much as he could on the Sea Devil. The thrusters were getting brighter and brighter, signifying that it would take off soon. Peter locked onto his target and fired! He watched the tiny tracker fly throughout space.

“C’mon, c’mon!” he yelled. The tracker was nearly to the Sea Devil. This plan was going to work! Then suddenly, the Sea Devil blasted off, leaving nothing but dust in its trails. “Dammit!” Peter yelled hitting the seat. “We lost him, Tink.”

Peter balled his fists in anger. He couldn’t believe he allowed Hook to get away.

“Sir,” Tink said. “We at least know he was already at Grottowia. We can still use this to our advantage and discover what he was trying to steal.”

Peter nodded. He would have loved to know where Hook was headed, but he couldn’t dwell on that. “You’re right. To Grottowia we go, Tink,” Peter said calmly and got up.

“Peter! Peter!” Winter yelled over the com link. “They’re coming after me!”

“Hang on!” Peter immediately activated his rocket boots and found the nearest window to peer out of. “Winter! Where are you!” He could see nothing but empty space. It didn’t make sense to Peter he should at least be seeing a few Lost Boys’ ships, or the Krags!

“The Krag! They’re chasing me!” Peter blasted toward the cockpit and slammed into the captain’s chair. All the Krag soldiers were now chasing Winter throughout space. Winter was fleeing, but they were slowly gaining on her. She dodged their laser blasts, but it would only take one to take her down.

“Hang tight, Winter! I’m coming!” Peter steered the ship towards her. A jetpack was no match for a ship and he would be on her in any second. “No!” Peter yelled as he steered into a field of mines! The leftover Krag ships were actively activating the mines and dragging them behind their ships. Using the mines to their advantage, they created a shield for their warriors in the field. No ship was able to get through! “Slightly!” Peter radioed. “Are you able to get to Winter?”

Slightly, in the heart of the mines, cautiously flew through. “I’m trying mate! These damned mines!”

“Peter!” Winter yelped. “They’re getting closer!” A Krag warrior successfully caught up to Winter. It raised its sword and slashed forward. It missed Winter by a hair, but managed to slice directly into a thruster on her jetpack. Winter spiraled in one direction, significantly slowing down.

“Winter!” Peter yelled as he jumped out of his seat. He activated his rocket boots and headed toward the cargo bay. “Tink! Open the hatch and get this ship out of here!”

Peter flew through space, trying desperately to get to Winter. One by one, the Krags would catch up to her. Winter would use what little time she had to spare to slash them away as they approached. She couldn’t keep this up much longer. Little by little, the pack of Krags were catching up to her and would ambush her all at once.

“I don’t know how much longer I can last!” Winter yelled as she slashed a Krag’s jetpack, sending it spiraling away.

“I got you!” Peter yelled as he descended into the field of mines at a break neck speed. He came dangerously close to hitting multiple mines, but he didn’t care. Winter slashed at another Krag, clashing their swords with each other!

In his fast speed, Peter accidentally hit a mine! “Crap!” he yelled as he drastically changed directions, hoping to get out of the blast. The mine exploded! Causing other mines to explode as well. A fireball exploded at Peter’s tail. Peter continued through the mine field and saw Winter dueling a Krag. He saw another Krag speeding toward them with every intention of ramming into both of them. “Winter!” Peter darted toward them. “Look out!”

But it was too late. The zooming Krag rammed into both the Krag and Winter! The momentum threw Winter backwards. She stopped moving when she hit an unknown object behind her. She turned to see she had just activated a mine! Winter’s face spun into a world of panic, not knowing if she had enough time to get away. “Peter…” she said gravely, believing this could be the end of her adventures in Neverland. She quickly turned around and flew off, but it was too late!

The mine exploded! “Wendy!” Peter shouted toward her. The blast hit the back of Winter’s jetpack, causing it to explode. Winter’s body went lifeless and accelerated toward the planet of Grottowia.

The Krag immediately stopped what they were doing and retreated. Their mission, whatever it was, seemed to be complete. Peter raced past them, heading toward Winter. He wasn’t sure if she was unconscious, or even alive, but he had to reach her. With her speed, she broke the atmosphere of Grottowia, soaring through the sky. Peter followed close behind, but his rocket boots were no match to an explosive thrust and the force of gravity.

Peter shot through the crystal blue sky. It was immensely clear with not a cloud in site. Peter could see everything, including how close to Winter was to a giant body of water that encompassed the entire planet. If the explosion of the mine didn’t kill her, it was quite possible that the impact on the ocean would.

Peter reached his hand out. He was so close to getting Winter. He tried stretching his arm further than it could to the point of pain. Just an inch further, he thought. But it was all for nothing. Winter plunged into the ocean. “NO!” he yelled as he made impact with the ocean as well.

The impact temporarily disoriented Peter. His whole world went black. He looked around and all he could see was blue. He felt as if he was in space without rocket boots. He was floating. For a few moments, he thought he completely lost his hearing, but then the world started coming back to him. His disorientation passed and he quickly got back to the task at hand.

He looked in all directions, seeing if he could see Winter’s body. He began to swim when pain went throughout his entire body. The crash had taken its toll on him. “Winter!” he yelled. He knew after that it wouldn’t do anything, but instinct kicked in and made him do it anyways. He swam again, fighting through the pain and eventually found Winter, floating ahead of him, still lifeless. He bolted toward her through the water.

Winter slowly came to. Her body felt weightless but she was in immense pain. She wasn’t able to open her eyelids. Maybe this is being dead, she thought. She managed to finally open one eye and saw nothing but blue. Where am I, she thought. She was in a world without sound and all one color. She had to be dead. She couldn’t keep one eye open long though, her body wouldn’t allow it. It drifted back down, seeing nothing but black. Right before she closed it however, she could have sworn she saw a purple tentacle pass by her.

She could feel herself drifting away. Fight, she thought. Fight! Another eyelid lifted and something was headed her way. It could be whatever was attached to the tentacle. Danger could be on its way, but there was nothing she could do. No motor functions existed for her. As it got closer, she realized it was Peter!

“Winter!” Peter yelled muffled through the water. She wasn’t sure if he was real. This could be her passing and hallucinating. Winter read about that once. People would see mass hallucinations right before they went, babbling on about something that made no sense. Winter knew she would learn a lot in Neverland. She just didn’t think she would learn how to die.